New to the Forum - My MC021 Story

[Grifter]

Hello Everyone,
I am purchasing the ebay Stealth Book this friday - have to wait for payday!

I recently found myself at the end of the leash in regards to ebay and paypal. I was selling silver bullions and had sold give or take 150 over a month and a half. Well - I got greedy - I hit my 100 a month limit on one account and opened a second account to move more product. I linked everything together (had about 65 feedback 100% positive) and sold another 10 units my first day ( first mistake ). Most my transactions were for 100 usd or less, but I had one customer inquire about multiple units and offered me 1300 bucks - umm yes, I'll send you an invoice.
That was the first red flag - my paypal account was moved to limited while they investigated a potential 'money laundering' issue. Honestly - I couldn't say that my transaction history looked normal with multiple under 100 transactions and then a 1300 hike so I didn't fight it or appeal or anything.
Well, as they say when one thing goes wrong, they all go wrong. I started having multiple buyers returning the items ( 3 cases of empty boxes, another 3 or 4 because 'the market dropped' etc etc ) and in my frustration I didn't provide that great of customer service ( whoops ) and got 4 negative feedbacks in a month.
I get an email saying my account was suspended due to MC021 - I pose a high security risk to the community ( kinda funny at the same time ) and they put a hold on my paypal funds for 180 days. I have just under a grand sitting in there so I'm not thrilled about this but I'll play the game as long as I get my money in the end.

Today I received another email saying that my funds will be available in 45 days - - I have not read on the forums or heard other places of them changing the 180 day limit to 45 - do I have 180 plus 45 or does one trump the other?

Thank you in advance for any/all help

[Grifter]

Bumpity bump bump

Re-read my blurp - just to clarify people were sending me empty boxes and trying to scam me because the silver market took a dive, not the other way around haha!

[jeffweico]

I'm not sure which will prevail - the 45 days or the 180...

But the accounts are gone. eBay considers precious metals (and related categories such as jewelry and coins) to be very high-risk to begin with. Then they see you using multiple accounts and racking up customer complaints.

You say you are an honest seller and I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. But eBay is not.

In either 45 days or 180, you WILL get your money, minus any refunds or chargebacks that come in duing that time.

The stealth guide can definitely help you to get another account, but if you keep repeating this, you will lose those accounts as well. Learn the stealth techniques but at the same time, rework your business model to eliminate the customer service issues and don't get too greedy.

As a side note, I'd be terrified to sell precious metals. It is just too easy for a scamming buyer to say they got an empty box or a silver-plated piece of tin.

[Grifter]

thank you very much for the feedback.

I was worried that the PM market might be a bit . . . watched - but that I might be able to get back into things on a much less 'obvious' way - a couple listings a month rather than over 100 haha.

Given my entire business model is based around precious metals - silver bullions in specific - even with the stealth techniques am I pretty much shooting myself in the foot?

[jeffweico]

No, you just need to start with a few small sales to build feedback. That could be anything, just make it LOW-RISK.

Then, you can list the silver stuff a little at a time. The more positive feedbacks, the more you can list. Spread your sales over several accounts. That way, they can't take you down 100% at once.

[GreenBean]

And heart.

How long you been on ebay doing this? What research did you do about the dangers of trying to move this commodity on ebay? sounds like you may not have done too much

I suggest you use google to find the couple of forums that will give you help to handle silver. If you like send me a pm.

[Grifter]

Thank you both for all the advice - I have heard, listened and learned

Greenbean, you are 100% I did zero research. While I was in the Marine Corps I was sending my war pay home and told my mom ( hush ) to buy all the 1 oz silver bullion she could. When silver started going through the roof ( I still recommend the norfed coins for medium - long term investment, look them up and you will see why ) I thought 'well hey, I'd like to cash out' so I figured I would sell about 50% of what I had. Not so much.

I thought 'hey, everyone knows this place, they are good, you have to pay an overhead but so be it'. Yeah yeah yeah - I'm a jarhead so I can claim the moron card this one time

Jeffweico when you said start with low risk items - I currently do not sell any other items, would purchasing and receiving positive feedback work as well or should I keep my eyes open ( forum search ) for selling alternatives?

Again - thank you everyone for your assistance, I can not begin to tell you how much I have learned. Ohh yeah - buying the book today!!!

EDIT: - greenbean sorry I was on my original account for roughly a year and half, started selling about a month/ month 1/2 ago

[jeffweico]

Don't try to buy feedback. eBay has ways of detecting this. Just sell a few low-risk items for cheap to get the feedback. A trip to the dollar store should give you plenty of options.

[rsot]

OR get creative and make your own items =)

[stillselling]

Excellent short story, just about the right length for my morning reading, if you get my drift.

Now, let's take a look at the shortcomings.

1. How did you manage to get a selling limit of 100/$10k? I didn't think such thing existed. I tried, even talked to PS support to get an account linked and could not get them to budge from a $5k limit.

2. What were you selling exactly? I didn't know they make anything silver in 2 oz. Did you find the wholesaler in China?

3. Yeah, I feel bad for those buyers of bullions that lost 10% over the last month. So, of the 4 that bitched, they lost what? $20 combined? Just think, all that effort to cover a $5 loss each.

4. How are you able to let $1300 sit a PP account when you're waiting for the next paycheck just to buy a $30 ebook that you could get for free?

5. If I do a search for all silver bullion listings traded in the last month between $75-$120, would I be able to find a seller that has 4 negatives?

Ok, time to wipe.

[Grifter]

I guess stillselling was taking an angry sh*t this morning - lots of jumping to conclusions and assuming on this one. I'll write it on a brown paper bag with crayon so you can understand.

My selling limit was 100/5k - I never said or implied it was 10k ( unless you took the mention I had of 100 dollars or less per transaction as a maximum of 100 dollars and assumed that none of the items went unsold and I sold all 100 items at 100 dollars a piece.

What was I selling exactly? As I stated, 1 oz silver bullions ( Northwest Territory, APMEX, Majestic Mint, Scottsdale Mint ) - never said/implied 2 oz. Again, if your assuming that an oz was roughly 50 bucks ( it was lower, but ball parking it ) and a sale was 100, imagine this - you ready? Two separate 1 oz bars. Amazing isnt it? - -Side note, silver bullions can be purchased in ( oz) 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, 3 1/2, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 1000.

Your statement about 'Feeling bad for those who lost 10%' just further reinstates my conclusion that you have no idea what you are talking about. Silver was at a record high of 49 and some change, right now its 35 bucks - thats 14 dollars an oz or roughly 1/3 loss over the past 2 weeks. Also, 4 returns reported 'due to the volatile market', 3 others were returned empty.

Its not a matter of 'how am I able to let 1300 sit in a pp account', I actually said it was 'under a grand' and yes I do want to get to it but as I've said, my account is limited and I can't access those funds for either 180 or 45 days ( the ENTIRE PURPOSE OF THE THREAD! sigh ) as far as waiting till payday, I take it your not married haha : )

Lastly, in contrast to your previous intelligence gathering attempts I will assist you in getting at least one thing right - set your price margin a bit lower - 100 and under is not 120. . . I'd shoot for what the spot price of silver was going for on that specific day. Since I doubt you will research that far, I'd look in the 35 - 100 dollar range.

[stillselling]

Last night's fire wings didn't want to exit without a fight. Thanks for asking.

I misinterpreted your "under $100" part, so an apology is due.

I spent a few years in commodities pit so chart reading is 2nd nature. I'm also assuming you are aware of the spike up and down over 2 trading days, right?

Off to spend the weekend with my newborn, will check out your claim on Monday.

[nak]

Silver has been much higher then 49 back in the 70's. It was near 80 an oz.

[Grifter]

Not to debate a silver price ( still looking for an answer on the 180 vs 45 day thing ) but the highest silver price ever recorded in US history was 49.76 in April of 2011. The next highest was 48.00 an oz in January of 1980.

Anyway - back on point everyone.

I received a 180 day limit to my pa yp al account, then 3 or 4 days later I received a 45 day limit - is that 180 plus 45, 180 because it is larger or 45 because I received it the most recent?

Thank you

[nak]

grifter i stand corrected. I must have crossed a t and dotted an I were i was not sposta. sorry for the wrong info. but to your question about the 180 vs 45. you can call payapl and tell them you need the money and give them a sob story about how you need to pay your bills and if you don't you will loose stuff and go into very bed debt and sometimes this works and they will let it go faster then the 180 days.

[Grifter]

Nak - no worries buddy! If thats the worst part of my day, I'll take it

I looked through the paypal site, No clue how i got there but it gave me the date, reason and issues pertaining to the suspension. The 180 days ( in eb ay's glorious fog of explanation) " We need some more information about some of your recent sales. "

Then, 9 days later

Our system detected that multiple PayPal accounts contain registration information similar to yours. Our User Agreement allows PayPal users to have one Personal account and one Premier or Business account. To return your account to regular standing, we will need to confirm some of the information on your account.

I will give them a call tomorrow and see what is going on, but hopefully I will have the 45 days or less. I will keep you all posted as to what I hear and again - thank you everyone ( except one ) for the assistance!
Grifter

[stillselling]

@Grifter, I'm not able to locate any seller that matched your original account, but eB's API's are notorious for digging up closed auctions. But since I got a PM from a reliable member here, I will retract all accusations I might've made.

Good luck chatting with PP. You're doing what I would've suggested.

[Grifter]

Stillselling - you have done nor said anything with factual backing. Your misinterpretation of my post, childish accusations, false claims of 'spending years in a commodities pit' ( if you had you would NEVER have made the 'oh its only 10%' statement. ) nor have you given any benefit to this thread with the exception that we should stay away from hot wings. All in all, sir - you are one of the most moronic people I have ever encountered and remember, this is coming from a USMC 'jar head'.

P.s. - Good luck chatting with PP. You're doing what I would've suggested. - - You are claiming my own solution as your own?! I'm done responding to you.

--------

Okay - that aside.

I contacted Paypal today and actually had a bit of fun trying to get in touch with them. I called from my cell phone ( the number connected to the account ) and used the online pin and immediately was transferred to a 'This number is no longer in service' message and was disconnected. I figured that maybe I put in the pin wrong or something - so I reloaded a new pin, tried again. Same issue. Tried a 3rd time - now I'm upset.

I looked online to see if there were any reported outages or issues, nothing. Tried a 4th time - same thing. Okay - lets try the house line ( not associated with anything ) - went through as a new member - got right to an associate. Huh - told them I needed to speak with a specialist about an account limitation. Transferred - - Oh I'm sorry I need to transfer you to a specialist - another transfer - same - 3rd transfer ( your kidding me right!?!?!? )

When the smoke clears they said I had a 180 day limitation. I told the operator that I received a 2nd email on the 3rd saying that it was limited for 45 days. She says 'oh yes I see that now - yes you will have access to your funds June 17th' - - SWEET! Sucks but at least its not October 31st now.

I will keep you all posted and again - thank you very much for all the assistance and the place to vent my frustrations! : )

[Grifter]

Aaand updates. Called Pa yP al today, down to 9 days until I can access the funds and I got an email saying that my account was limited. Really? Already knew that.

I called them, reported that it was an automated message and not to worry about it. I asked the operator if there was any way to expedite acquisition of my funds and he said that since no one has requested a return ( 30+ days since this all happened ) they will 'investigate' and let me know within 24 hours. He seemed pretty confident that I should have access to my funds before the 17th but reassured me that worst case scenario it would remain the 17th. Fingers crossed!

[Grifter]

alrighty - down to 4 days - no news as to the funds being released any sooner and I'm kinda nervous about calling them constantly to ask for the quicker access. Patience is a virtue right : )

Hopefully friday things will be clear

[GrannyT]

Cannot wait to hear the outcome!!

[Grifter]

okay - so I went against my own advice. I got a call from my CC regarding a chargeback situation, they sided in my favor - awesome. Got an email from my cell phone saying the erroneously overcharged my previous month ( was only 8 or 10 dollars, I thought it was a rate hike ) and they gave me a month free! Thought, okay, I'm on fire today, what the heck lets call Pa yp al - worst case they say no and I have to wait till Friday. First guy I got a hold of, told him I was 'the one happy customer he will talk to today' - he laughed - Said I called a week previously about getting access to my account, never heard anything - never had 1 return or dispute and checking on status. Took all of 30 to 45 seconds - he put me on hold for about 3 minutes and said 'you have access to your funds, thanks you'

Then I got this!

Your PayPal funds are now eligible for withdrawal.

You may transfer the funds directly to your bank account via online bank transfer or you may request a check from PayPal. Please let us know how you would like to receive the funds by logging in to your account.
As a reminder, access to your account will remain limited until you perform the steps required to lift the limitation.

While access to your account is limited, you may:
* place logos into your auction listings or on your website
* update your account information
* withdraw funds from your account

You may not:
* send or request money
* receive payments
* add funds to your account
* close your account

Thank you for using PayPal.

Sincerely,
The PayPal Team



Okay - things are starting to fall into place. I left about 2 dollars in the account, I remember reading about keeping cash in there and not using it for a few years and then the account will be deleted or something - correct?

Once the funds transfer I am officially going stealth and getting back into the swing of things - but here is my dilemma. I sell silver bullions, I think they are considered vero - should I offset the silver with other items? Or would be the best option be to just create multiple stealth accts realizing that some if not all will be taken down? Or - do you all have a better idea?

Thank you again for all the assistance and pointing me in the right direction!
Grifter